


Help

by Elenhin



Category: The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-19
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2018-01-02 01:51:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1051139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenhin/pseuds/Elenhin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another challenge given to me by the ever kind and generous Aramirandme81, this one a short time ago, so I thought it was time to post it. As usually, it is from the One Word at a Time series, and as always I urge everyone to read it. </p>
<p>The word was Help, the line was; Anders looks at the child that has attached itself to his leg and then at a grinning Ty while his eyes are shouting ‘Help!’ as loud as they can.</p>
<p>I hope you enjoy my take on the matter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Help

Help

 

If Ty had been surprised to find himself at the aquarium he had not shown it, and Anders really doubted he had been. After all he had been the one who had suggested that they were a more or less normally functional family at the moment, and that meant that the birthday of one of their own should not be forgotten, ignored, or cursed. Such as had been the case for a couple of years, with Axl and he sometimes forgetting about it, Mike ignoring it and Valerie cursing it. Valerie would curse Anders birthday becuase it meant she had to admit that Anders had ever been born.

 

Ty had heard her complain to Mike once that he had not really, instead he would have had to have been spawned. Even Mike had put his foot down on that though. It was just Val who found his birthdays a really bitter memory.

 

Ty had figured they weren’t ready to make a big deal out of it, and was fairly certain that no one wanted to. He also figured it did not feel right to ignore it. However Axl had just the week before suggested something that was unusually smart for the tallest and still smallest brother of the family. He had suggested that it was time they started doing things the way a family should. Fun stuff together just becuase they could. Mike had agreed, Anders had groaned, whined and then agreed while Ty had thought it really was a great idea.

 

Anders birthday being a week later had just been coincidence but Ty had suggested that it was a good place to start. It being Anders’ birthday Ty and Axl had decided it was only fair he got to pick what they should do, which meant the aquarium and in all truth no one was surprised.

 

If there was one place Anders had always loved to go, it was to the giant aquarium and the only problem they ever had with him there was how they would get him out again before it closed.

 

He certainly knew a lot about the different fish, but Ty was not surprised about that either. After all, Anders did not keep the fish in his apartment just because he figured it was easier than hanging a picture. He kept them because he loved them.

 

He also knew that they helped Anders when he was feeling stressed, and that was something he could certainly understand. He remembered that from the smaller fish tank that had been in Anders’ room before they moved, and then in the one he shared with him when Valerie moved in as well. At first he had found it hard to sleep with the gurgling noise from the tank, but Anders appeared to find it soothing and Valerie refused to have it in the lounge.

 

She truly could not understand Anders’ fascination with the fish, nor the love he felt for them.

 

One of the few times Ty had been truly angry with Valerie had been because of the fish.

 

He loved her, and generally thought she made a better mum than his own mum had, and even so he knew that their real mum had been much better to him and Axl than she ever was to Anders or Mike. She had clearly favored Axl most of all, and Anders the least. Unfortunately Valerie too seemed to have something against Anders though Ty couldn’t understand what back then.

 

What he could understand was how wrong it was of her to mock Anders when he came shuffling through the kitchen with a dead goldfish in a small plastic cup he used when he cared for the tank. He had been headed out into the yard to bury it, becuase he refused to flush them down the toilet the way Ty knew some people did, and back then it had been what he treasured most about Anders. The fact that he cared so much for his fish that he would bury them.

 

Valerie obviously did not understand how a fish could earn the honour of a burial, and her mocking tone had really hurt Anders badly, and Ty had been so mad he refused to talk to her for a whole week. Even if he was pretty sure neither Valerie nor Anders ever figured out why he was mad. Anders was too mad and too upset himself to notice much that was going on around him.

 

Anders had been a very sensitive child, even if Ty knew it could be hard to believe now. Sometimes he thought he was the only one who could still sense that. That gentle open warmth and caring that used to come so natural to his brother when he was younger.

 

Anders was the one who could read a story to Axl, even when he had his homework in front of him, because Axl was sad and really wanted a story, but Anders was busy and needed to get his homework done.

 

He couldn’t fix the flat tyre on Ty’s bike, because he really did not know how to, but he was late to his own class because he walked Ty into his and explained they were late due to the bike, and it was not Ty’s fault at all.

 

He was also the one who understood about being scared or worried even if it was in the middle of the day, just because something felt wrong. He would tease and prod, but he understood and it was why Ty often turned to him instead of Mike. Not because Anders always knew the answer, but becuase he understood the need to ask the question.

 

Anders had been an amazing big brother before things went wrong, something that Ty had known by instinct, and it amused him that while Anders seemed to pride himself with his ‘who cares’ attitude he now had. The whole arrogance and selfishness he displayed, he was still so gentle and caring inside. Apparently Ty wasn’t the only one who could sense it now, and that was even more amusing.

 

Anders had wanted to stay in the underwater tunnel, Axl had been restless so Mike had taken Axl with him to make sure they could have something for lunch. Wise by the lesson of the long lines and difficulty of finding a table.

  
Ty had remained by Anders who had been staring into the water through the glass when he suddenly gave a start.

 

Ty chuckled while Anders looked down in disbelief, rubbing at his eyes. He felt no need to step in, Anders was still pretty good with kids.

 

That however was a view that not everyone agrees with. Anders looks at the child that has attached itself to his leg, and then at a grinning Ty while his eyes are shouting ‘Help!’ as loud as they can.

 

Ty only smiles back, he’s really not in a hurry to step in as he much prefers to see what Anders will do.

 

“Hey, there,” he taps the child gently on the shoulder. “What’s going on there mate?”

 

“Scared,” the child mumbles, his face pressed against Anders trousers and a small part of him realizes that should the parent see this, he’s likely to get accused of forcing unwanted attention onto the child. It makes him really, really hope that the parent will be a hot woman he can talk around, and not a big beefy man who punches rather than listen.

 

“Nothing here to be scared off,” trying to pry him off his leg he takes his hand instead.

 

“What about that one?” the child points to the glass and Anders peers through it, trying to spot what the scary thing is, while Ty watches amused, taking a step back so he won’t distract the kid.

 

“Oh yeah, he looks a little scary, but there’s no need to worry about him,” he spots the shark swimming by with mixed emotions. He used to be thrilled to see them when he was a child. All that speed and power, and yet a lazy relaxed display, he loved sharks.

 

Now he’s a little too conscious of what they can do to want to see one up close, but with the glass between them it’s okay.

 

“Scary,” the child whimpers again.

 

“Yeah, a little maybe,” Anders admits, glaring at Ty, screaming at him for help with his eyes, and then he crouches down. “But just because he looks scary doesn’t mean he can’t be nice you know.”

 

“He’s nice?” the child blinks confused.

 

“That one is,” Anders confirmed. “You should always be careful in the sea, but in here you don’t have to worry, they are all nice sharks here. See, they need some really, really big fish to help make sure all the smaller fish are okay. Sharks are really good at that.”

 

The child blinks confused and Ty has to bite back the laughter.

 

“Really?” he demands, one hand still holding on to Anders, but his shirt now as he’s crouching beside him.

 

“Really, see, looking scary like that, all the other nasty bad fishes are scared of him, so he can make sure that no squid or anything like that bully the small fish. If he’d see a big squid bullying a fish, he could just tie his arms in a knot.”

 

This made the child giggle and Ty snort amused. Anders spared a moment of attention from the child to glare at him, a look that promised vengeance.

 

“Wow,” with one hand firmly clenched in Anders shirt he peered closer at the glass, actually waving at the shark. “Does he help kids too, or only fishies?” he asks quietly, gazing up at Anders.

 

“Depends on what the kids need help with,” Anders decide. “So, why don’t you tell him, and we’ll see if he can help you.”

 

“I lost mummy and daddy,” he mumbles. “I was looking, and they were gone, and now I’m scared.”

 

“Then I think he can help,” Anders smiles, looking at Ty, giving him a very firm and pointed look. This time, Ty does what Anders wants him to and goes looking for the parents. After all, a pair of adults frantically looking around for their lost child are pretty easy to spot.

 

By the time they get back to Anders, the kid is holding a stuffed shark close to his chest, and is listening to Anders telling a story about the fish. He is so caught up in the story he barely notices when his parents come, but the relief on Anders’ face is obvious.

 

The kid is convinced that it was the shark who found his parents for him, and Ty is happy to let him believe that, he gathers that there is a similar reason behind the stuffed shark. It’s just the type of thing Anders will do, even if he will not admit it.

 

Anders do not really care that the parents are trying to thank him, he drags Ty away from there as quickly as he can. That’s something that Ty can’t understand for it should be obvious that he did the right thing, which means he will not have to worry about what Mike will say about it. Since Anders won’t say a word, he tells Mike and Axl, Axl laughing and grinning while Mike gives Anders a proud look. He is proud of his brother, but he also understands why he looks sad, because even if Anders did the right thing he’s thinking about a time when no parent was looking for him.

 

Ty does not know about that though, that i something they kept from him and Axl to protect them, so all Ty can think about is what a great parent Anders would truly be if he allowed himself to become one.

  
The End

 

Please comment, the Cricket is hungry, and urges everyone to read One Word at a Time by Aramirandme81


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